Tips for preparing for a big tournament

What are some of the ways you prepare for a large 3 day tournament? I know to do a practice round. What exactly do you do on a practice round? Do you have them hit multiple shots? Go with yardage book? I am not a golfer myself but have some knowledge of the game. My son is moving up in types of tournaments he plays but I think we need to up our game for preparation. I am not sure how to help him. Any suggestions/tips?

> @jigsaw1011 said:

> What are some of the ways you prepare for a large 3 day tournament? I know to do a practice round. What exactly do you do on a practice round? Do you have them hit multiple shots? Go with yardage book? I am not a golfer myself but have some knowledge of the game. My son is moving up in types of tournaments he plays but I think we need to up our game for preparation. I am not sure how to help him. Any suggestions/tips?

Try to understand the lay-out of the course before playing your practice round. ie... distance to hazards, bunkers, etc.. Also map out your landing areas based on your son's distances. Once you get out there keep track of distances on approach shots and which clubs were used. I'm not good with greens, but I see a lot of guys making small maps of greens showing different slopes and pin placements. If this is a 3 day event, I would do at least 2 practice rounds. The first would be strictly practice and the second a lot more for score.

Hitting multiple balls is tricky unless the course is dead.

Multiple balls are hard to do. Get the yardage book if it’s available. Watch drone videos of the course. Then go play a round as kekoa said above. Play a second round focusing more on the greens this time. Look for all 3 pin locations and try to roll as many putts as possible without holding up others. Now if you really want to win the tournament, then play 10+ more rounds. That’s the only way to be somewhat prepared for the wild shots that’s bound to happen when playing 18 holes for 3 days.

A few things that have worked for us....

**_Prep:_**

Map out estimates of likely landing & approach distances. With US Kids at least, I've found my sons approach distances are not that varied - usually the same 2 clubs. That way you can practice those clubs more than others. Research course the best you can (if you have never been) to understand if how it plays - i.e., elevated & hard greens may require higher & softer approaches ....so you can work on that leading up to tmnt.

**_Practice Rounds:_**

- Par 3's - find club that gets to the MIDDLE of the green, regardless of pin location in practice round. From there you know how to adjust to different locations.

- Par 5's - If likely to lay up, work from Green back to tee to find ideal layup distance & angle. Plan your shots back to the tee from there.

- Mostly ignore flags on practice rounds - a lot of times they will push them to edges to avoid wear & tear. A lot of times US Kids will have the pin locations marked with small paint on the greens. Make note if it looks to be in a tricky location, but dont overdo it. Some people spend way to much time obsessing over each angle to the each pin.

- We mix up what we do on/around greens to keep it light . For example, one green we will putt out to flag. The next hole we may hit a few chips , the next maybe a few bunker shots, the next drop a ball or two in the nasty stuff.

- Putting - it works best for my son not to spend a ton of time on putting in practice round. If there is a severe sloped green he will hit a few downhill & uphill, but generally putting work is better spent on the practice green.

- Dont keep score - We dont keep score on practice rounds. I try to build his confidence as much as possible for R1. If he is playing bad, shooting a high score day before the tmnt. wont bode well for his confidence. Dont be afraid to pick up the ball after a great shot and move to the next hole, there is value in walking away with that shot in his memory.

- Keep it loose - I am deliberate to keep it light and fun - I will splash him with water bottle, tell jokes, etc. If he doesnt have his A game at this point he isnt going to find it the night before we me barking instruction & grinding. The idea is to get comfortable & familiar with the course and tournament atmosphere.

Thank you all. Great information.

Practice Rounds are all about learning where to miss and putting. If you watch the better players, they are all playing shots from where their misses should be. Learning the greens and speeds of them are the most important aspect of the practice round.

> @heavy_hitter said:

> Practice Rounds are all about learning where to miss and putting. If you watch the better players, they are all playing shots from where their misses should be. Learning the greens and speeds of them are the most important aspect of the practice round.

This times 10. Ok my drive should be here, here, or here. Depending on the miss. If I miss the green right then Im here.